5 militants captured as Algerian forces secure hostage-taking site
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2013, Monday
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ALGERIAN special forces clearing the Ain Amenas gas plant captured five militants alive yesterday, a security source said, bringing the number believed to have taken part in an attack on the facility to 37.
Meanwhile, Algerian bomb squads scouring the gas plant where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign workers hostage found "numerous" bodies as they searched for explosive traps left behind by the attackers, a security official said.
On Saturday, a bloody raid ended a four-day siege of the remote desert refinery.
The official said the bodies were badly disfigured and difficult to identify and "could be either Algerian or foreign hostages."
Citing security sources, Anis Rahmani of the Ennahar TV channel said the army discovered the bodies of 25 hostages as they sought to secure the sprawling Ain Amenas site.
"In all nine Japanese were killed," one Algerian witness said a day after Algerian special forces stormed the natural gas complex in the Sahara desert to end the standoff.
The government said that 32 militants were killed.
Earlier, Algeria's chief government spokesman said he feared the toll of hostages - which stood at 23 on Saturday - would rise as special forces teams finished their search. He said the militants came from six countries and were armed to cause maximum destruction.
Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company running the site along with BP and Norway's Statoil, said the entire refinery had been mined.
"They had decided to succeed in the operation as planned, to blow up the gas complex and kill all the hostages," said Communications Minister Mohamed Said.
It was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said three Britons were killed and another three were believed dead, along with a foreigner who was living in Britain. He said 22 Britons who survived were back in Britain.
"Now, of course, people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched a vicious and cowardly attack," Cameron said.
The siege at Ain Amenas transfixed the world after radical Islamists stormed the complex last Wednesday. Workers at the plant were then held hostage surrounded by the Algerian military and its attack helicopters for four tense days punctuated with gun battles and dramatic tales of escape.
Algeria favored military action over negotiation, a situation that caused an outcry from countries worried about their citizens. Algerian forces twice assaulted the two areas where the hostages were being held with minimal apparent mediation.
"To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of the situation, the army's special forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to neutralize the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the hostages and then blow up the gas facilities," Algeria's Interior Ministry said.
A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreigner workers were freed over the course of the four-day standoff, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Algerian bomb squads scouring the gas plant where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign workers hostage found "numerous" bodies as they searched for explosive traps left behind by the attackers, a security official said.
On Saturday, a bloody raid ended a four-day siege of the remote desert refinery.
The official said the bodies were badly disfigured and difficult to identify and "could be either Algerian or foreign hostages."
Citing security sources, Anis Rahmani of the Ennahar TV channel said the army discovered the bodies of 25 hostages as they sought to secure the sprawling Ain Amenas site.
"In all nine Japanese were killed," one Algerian witness said a day after Algerian special forces stormed the natural gas complex in the Sahara desert to end the standoff.
The government said that 32 militants were killed.
Earlier, Algeria's chief government spokesman said he feared the toll of hostages - which stood at 23 on Saturday - would rise as special forces teams finished their search. He said the militants came from six countries and were armed to cause maximum destruction.
Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company running the site along with BP and Norway's Statoil, said the entire refinery had been mined.
"They had decided to succeed in the operation as planned, to blow up the gas complex and kill all the hostages," said Communications Minister Mohamed Said.
It was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said three Britons were killed and another three were believed dead, along with a foreigner who was living in Britain. He said 22 Britons who survived were back in Britain.
"Now, of course, people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched a vicious and cowardly attack," Cameron said.
The siege at Ain Amenas transfixed the world after radical Islamists stormed the complex last Wednesday. Workers at the plant were then held hostage surrounded by the Algerian military and its attack helicopters for four tense days punctuated with gun battles and dramatic tales of escape.
Algeria favored military action over negotiation, a situation that caused an outcry from countries worried about their citizens. Algerian forces twice assaulted the two areas where the hostages were being held with minimal apparent mediation.
"To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of the situation, the army's special forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to neutralize the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the hostages and then blow up the gas facilities," Algeria's Interior Ministry said.
A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreigner workers were freed over the course of the four-day standoff, the ministry said.
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